Protected Areas and World Heritage Programme

IUCN Management Category IV and IX (Managed Nature Reserve and Biosphere

Reserve)

Biogeographical Province 2.31.12 (Scottish Highlands)

Geographical Location West coast of northern Scotland, in Wester Ross; 57°30'-57°39'N, 5°18'-5°30'W.

Date and History of Establishment 1968 as under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949; further protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981; June 1976 as a Biosphere Reserve.

Area Nature Reserve: 4,758ha; Biosphere Reserve: 4,800ha

Land Tenure 4,288ha are owned by the Nature Conservancy Council; the remaining 600ha are managed under a Nature Reserve Agreement with the owners.

Altitude 0-1,053m

Physical Features This mountainous area has five peaks over 1000m joined by narrow ridges and borders Loch Maree to the north-east. It is part of the stable foreland west of the Moine Thrust composed of Lewisian gneiss cut by igneous dykes, underlying the mountains of Torridonian sandstone and Cambrian quartzite. These rocks have been faulted and subjected to minor thrusts. Severe glacial erosion has carved the mountains into arêtes and peaks with steep cliffs and corries (cirques), leaving little soil or drift, but screes occur at the foot of many steep slopes. Drainage is radial. Climate is cool temperate oceanic and moist, precipitation about 2500mm annually and the winds strong.

Climate No information

Vegetation The most notable feature is a relict forest beside the Loch Maree on the north-east slopes below 400m of native Scots pine Pinus sylvestris and there are fragments of oak-birch forest with Betula pubescens and rowan Sorbus aucuparia. Most of the lowland area is a complex of wet heath with purple moor grass Molinia caerulea, cotton grass Eriophorum angustifolium, bog myrtle Myrica gale and ling Calluna vulgaris with bryophytes such as Hylocomium splendens and Sphagnum imbricatum. Montane areas have herb-rich dwarf shrub heath, especially of Calluna vulgaris-dwarf juniper Juniperus communis nana, bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, together with other ericaceous plants including blueberry Vaccinium myrtillus, cowberry V. vitis-idaea, cross-leaved heath Erica tetralix and alpine bearberry Arctous alpinus. Small outcrops of dolomitic mudstone support herb-rich grassland with bent Agrostis spp., sheep's fescue Festuca ovina and sweet vernal grass Anthoxanthum odoratum. The bryophyte and lichen fauna is of special interest. Some northern Atlantic liverworts, usually found on treeless hills, occur within the limit of woodland, including the conspicuous leafy liverwort Herberta borealis, known elsewhere only from Norway.

Fauna Habitats include sea, freshwater, moorland, bog and woodland but the fauna is relatively sparse although representative of West Highland deer country. The pine marten Martes martes and wild cat Felis sylvestris are both rare species present but seldom seen. More characteristic mammals are mountain hare Lepus timidus and red deer Cervus elaphus with roe deer Capreolus capreolus in the woodland. Birds include occasional golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos, ptarmigan Lagopus mutus, peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus, but the avifauna is limited in species and numbers. A number of rare invertebrates are found in the woodland.

Cultural Heritage Pastoral people inhabited the nothern Higlands in pre-Roman times and 2,000 years of grazing, felling and burning have reduced the natural woodland to a few tiny relics.

Local Human Population No information

Visitors and Visitor Facilities Access is restricted from 1 September to 21 November and advice is available from the wardens or Aultroy Visitors' Centre at Kinlochewe. There are two trails of 1.5km and 6.5km and a pony path, but hill walking equipment is advisable.

Scientific Research and Facilities This is an intensively studied site. Research has been carried out on: grazing for deer management, restoration of lowland woodlands and maintenance of montane habitats. An entomological survey has been carried out. There are no special facilities.

Conservation Value No information

Conservation Management Fully protected as a National Nature Reserve.

Management priorities are the restoration of woodland on lower ground and the preservation of montane habitats. The area has a deer management scheme. Access to some areas is restricted, particularly in Autumn. There are important opportunities for management, particularly of seminatural forest, in the wider Gairloch Conservation Area, surrounding the reserve.

None, but a zoned access scheme was initiated in 1972 in connection with red deer management. The reserve is bounded by extensive National Trust property which can act as a buffer zone and is part of the unofficial Gairloch Conservation Area, which is in turn part of a very extensive National Scenic Area.

Management Constraints Clearance of the forest, often by burning, began centuries ago and has been carried out to assist grazing or to provide timber for iron smelting and boat building. In the past, there has been grazing by sheep, cattle, goats and deer, though only deer grazing has been widespread and is now the only grazing permitted. Potato cultivation in the past has left its mark and there has been and still is some drainage of peatlands. Visitor pressure is increasing, particularly in summer.

Staff Two wardens based at Kinlochewe and two estate workers

Budget All expenses are met by the Nature Conservancy Council.

Local Addresses

The Regional Officer (North West Scotland), The Nature Conservancy Council, Fraser Darling House, 9 Culduthel Road, Inverness, IV2 4AG.

References

A number of publications including trail and reserve publications by the Nature Conservancy Council are available from the Regional Office or Visitors Centre.

McVean, D.N. and Durno, S.E. (1959). Forest History of Beinn Eighe Nature Reserve. New Phytologist 58: 79-82.

Date Revised July 1986